Mark 1:7-17

7 He announced, "The one who comes after me is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to bend down and untie his sandal straps.

8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan River.

10 As Jesus came out of the water, he saw heaven split open and the Spirit coming down to him as a dove.

11 A voice from heaven said, "You are my Son, whom I love. I am pleased with you."

12 At once the Spirit brought him into the desert,

13 where he was tempted by Satan for 40 days. He was there with the wild animals, and the angels took care of him.

14 After John had been put in prison, Jesus went to Galilee and told people the Good News of God.

15 He said, "The time has come, and the kingdom of God is near. Change the way you think and act, and believe the Good News."

16 As he was going along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew. They were throwing a net into the sea because they were fishermen.

17 Jesus said to them, "Come, follow me! I will teach you how to catch people instead of fish."

Mark 1:7-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO MARK

This is the title of the book, the subject of which is the Gospel; a joyful account of the ministry, miracles, actions, and sufferings of Christ: the writer of it was not one of the twelve apostles, but an evangelist; the same with John Mark, or John, whose surname was Mark: John was his Hebrew name, and Mark his Gentile name, Ac 12:12,25, and was Barnabas's sister's son, Col 4:10, his mother's name was Mary, Ac 12:12. The Apostle Peter calls him his son, 1Pe 5:13, if he is the same; and he is thought to have wrote his Gospel from him {a}, and by his order, and which was afterwards examined and approved by him {b} it is said to have been wrote originally in Latin, or in the Roman tongue: so say the Arabic and Persic versions at the beginning of it, and the Syriac version says the same at the end: but of this there is no evidence, any more, nor so much, as of Matthew's writing his Gospel in Hebrew. The old Latin copy of this, is a version from the Greek; it is most likely that it was originally written in Greek, as the rest of the New Testament.

{a} Papias apud Euseb. Hist. l. 3. c. 39. Tertull. adv. Marcion. l. 4. c. 5. {b} Hieron. Catalog. Script. Eccles. p. 91. sect. 18.